The Performer
by Hollyflash
Summary: Daniel Fenton decided he'd be a ghost hunter when he was six, and stayed human. Years later, Danny's friends took him to a show at the Circus Gothica and became entranced with a certain performance. The Fentons are nothing if not determined, and Danny's going to figure out everything he can about this performer- and a few of the circus' dark secrets as well. Truce fic for Lam-baka!


So, this is my Christmas Truce fic for Lam-baka! Merry Christmas, I'm sorry the summery looks so weird. ^^'

So, their prompt was 'anything at all!' After some anonymous messages, I figured out they like Pitch Pearl. And being me, I looked at that like "Hey, what if I take a massive plot filled with shenanigans and write it into a oneshot that is 5000 words or less?"

I'm good at things.

So yes, Pitch Pearl, AU, Danny is full human and still hunts ghosts, all good things.

* * *

The Performer

At age six, Danny Fenton watched the Ghostbusters movies for the first time. Wrapped up in a blanket beside his dad with a popcorn bowl in his lap, he said those fateful words; "Dad, I'm going to be a ghost hunter when I grow up."

Jack Fenton had jumped to his feet, causing the popcorn bowl to fall to the floor. He grabbed his son and spun him around, both laughing. Maddie's reaction was similar, though instead of spinning her son she held him tightly and planted a kiss on his forehead. Jazz did not share her parents' enthusiasm, and tried to discourage her brother from following their parents' passion.

She was unsuccessful, however, and for many years Maddie and Jack made sure that their young son knew all about their work. At age fourteen, when his parents' ghost portal didn't work, he showed it to his friends and they called him a chicken when he said he didn't want to go inside. They went in themselves, but as soon as they weren't looking, Danny unplugged the machine.

Halfway through, Tucker tripped and knocked Sam into the wall. Danny decided that enough was enough, and told his friends to get out of the portal.

The next day, Jack plugged it back in and with several excited screams, ran upstairs to tell his family the portal was working.

Three weeks later, Amity Park was overrun by ghosts. Danny stood tall at his parents' side, ectoblaster in hand, and vowed to stop all the ghosts that were coming through.

Three years later, when he was seventeen, Danny pushed his sister out of the way barely a second before a ghost's blast would hit them. As he grabbed his weapon, the youngest Fenton told his sister to call their parents and chased after the ghosts who had attacked them.

There were four of them; green-skinned, and each carrying a bag. Danny heard sirens as he tried desperately to chase them down, but a teenager on the ground was no match for the flying spectres. In the end, they flew off, leaving an exhausted Danny behind.

Danny and his parents spent the next several hours scouring the town for any trace of ectoplasmic energy. Unlike nearly every single day for the past three years, there was nothing. It was as if the most haunted town in America was no longer haunted.

Three members of the Fenton family came home confused and almost fearful. Amity's ghosts couldn't have just disappeared overnight… could they?

No, the Fentons decided, they couldn't. And their theory was confirmed when a call came in from the Amity Park Police Department, asking for their help in tracking down some ghostly jewel thieves.

.-.-.-.-.-.

The next day, while Danny and his parents attempted to fix up their ghost tracker and the news talked of the jewel heist from the night before, Danny's friends burst in and requested to kidnap him.

Danny didn't bother to point out that you didn't _ask_ before you kidnaped someone, and accepted their offer to hang out. A circus specializing in the unusual had rolled into town a couple days ago, and Sam had gotten them all tickets.

An hour later, sitting in the stands between his friends as they stole each other's snacks, Danny found Circus Gothica's tagline to 'unleash your dark side' rather fitting. His favourite act was performed by, as the ringmaster had said, the grim reaper himself.

Tucker, the most logical minded of the trio, tried his best to explain how the performer had obviously been wearing a harness as he balanced on the tightrope. The performer than proved him wrong by using his sickle to spin himself around the tightrope. At the end of the act, he cut it, and he let himself fall.

Danny screamed and jumped to his feet, about to rush into the center ring in a vain effort to save the performer, only to find that his actions were unnecessary.

The performed landed gently on the ground and swung his weapon dramatically. Danny felt his jaw drop as he disappeared in a puff of smoke. The audience erupted into cheers, but Danny did not join them. He couldn't do anything besides stand there, staring at where the performer had been as Tucker tried to explain his actions away with trap doors.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Danny went to the circus again the next day, with his sister this time. They took their seats closer to the ground, so they'd have a cleared view of what they'd see on the bottom. When the performer who was dressed as the grim reaper appeared again, Danny watched every move of his act for any possible hint of how he could land so gently when the rope split. Jazz provided no answers, and caught up in the magic of the circus, the two decided to come the next day.

And the day after that. And the day after that.

After four days of studying the performer in an attempt to understand how in the world he did his act, Jazz grabbed her brother's hand, pointed to a building clearly marked _employees_ _only,_ and told him to go ask the performer how he did it.

Danny replied by staring blankly at his sister. "What?"

"You heard me," She said, motioning to the door. "Find someone and ask them how the reaper act works. Say you're an intern or something, I don't care. But I am not going to keep spending my money to feed your ridiculous obsession with this act!"

"There's so much love here," Danny replied, rolled his eyes, and turned to face the structure. "You're not coming in with me, are you?"

"Nope."

"Will you wait for me in case this lands me in circus jail?"

Jazz stared at him, "Circus jail?"

"Well, considering Circus Gothica's whole dark and despair bit, it might be a torture chamber. But you know what I mean," He sent his sister an awkward grin before he stepped forward and pushed the door open.

There didn't seem to be any lightbulbs in the little building, but there was a door in the back of it. Off to the side, there was a rack of costumes. Many of them were damaged and smelled like citrus. _Who's been lighting these things on fire and spraying them with air freshener?_

There was a crash and some harsh voices from inside the tent. Panicking, Danny dived into the costume rack, hiding behind assorted burnt black robes. There were loud footsteps with furious mumbling, and Danny felt someone shifting the robes around. He leaned back, as if that would somehow protect him from the person who was definitely not in the mood to answer questions about the act.

However, two hands grabbed Danny by his right arm and pulled him through the back wall right before his cover would be blown.

Laying on the ground and trying to explain away what had just happened with a secret door, Danny shifted to get a look at the person who had saved him. Within seconds of each other, two thoughts ran through his mind.

 _That's the guy!_ Was Danny's first though, looking at the black robe the performer was wearing. _That's the guy who does the reaper act!_

The second occurred as Danny reached the performer's face, staring at his tan skin, white hair, and red eyes. _Oh no, he's hot._

The performer stepped back, looking at Danny curiously as he stood up. "H-hi," He said, a blush overtaking his face. "Um… what's… up?" _Why am I so bad at this?_

"You're not supposed to be here," Oh jeez, even his voice was attractive. He had a bit of an accent that Danny couldn't place, and his voice sounded almost like music. "You should leave, or I'll report you the Master."

"Master?" Oh, ringmaster. _Duh._ "Never mind. I'm… Danny." He held out a hand, waiting for the performer to shake it.

There was an awkward silence as instead of doing so, the performer flinched away.

"I'm sorry!" Danny said quickly, pulling his hand back. He wondered how that had spooked someone who regularly did death-defying acts every day. "I didn't mean to- are you okay?"

"Please leave," The performer said, looking away. Danny stepped back, nodding quickly.

"Alright, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-" Danny stopped, staring at the nervous performer in front of him. Something was wrong with all of this. He frowned, and tried to stay calm. People weren't supposed to flinch when you held out your hand. "If you get some free time, would you like to go out and uh, get some coffee or something?"

"Coffee?"

"Or tea. Or like, ice cream, or nasty burgers…" The performer was staring at him blankly. Danny forced an uncomfortable smile, "Would you like to go on a date with me? Okay, maybe scaring you then asking you out wasn't my best plan but um, do you want to?"

"Uh…" The performer stepped back, "I don't think the Master would like that-"

 _This is getting shadier by the second._ "I can bring stuff here for you if leaving would be the problem," Danny said. "Come on, please? Ten minutes of your time, that's all I want, and you can walk out at any time if I'm making you uncomfortable. You'll even get free food out of it!"

The performer hesitated, looking him over. "…Alright," He said, "I'll meet you somewhere. But you need to get out of here before someone sees you."

"Meet you tomorrow at six? At the Nasty Burger?" Danny said, "Or, uh, someplace else-"

"I like burgers," He frowned, "I think. I'm not supposed to do that."

Danny wasn't sure what that meant, but it probably wasn't good. "Oh, great! I'll see you then!" He turned around, turning at the apparently solid wall behind him. "Uh, how do I get out of here?"

Five minutes later, Danny reunited with his sister. "How'd it go?"

Danny shrugged, sticking to Jazz's side as they left the circus grounds. "Well, at the very least I think the ringmaster is a control freak, and at the most possibly abusive."

Jazz looked over at her brother, "He's _what?"_

"Yeah, I found the guy who does the reaper act- who is actually very, _very_ attractive and it was awkward- and he flinched when I offered my hand for a shake." Danny mimicked the action for a second before dropping his hand back to his side. "So I asked him out to the Nasty Burger tomorrow where I'm going to try and figure out whether or not I should call the police and possibly make out with him or something. I don't really know."

Jazz was staring at her brother with one eyebrow raised, "So you went in to figure out how he does his act… and instead asked him out?"

"Uh, yeah? But I had a good reason."

"Right," Jazz put her hand on her brother's shoulder. "I have one question for you, okay Danny?"

"Alright, shoot."

"The guy who does the reaper act, that you're going on a date with tomorrow, what's his name?"

Danny stopped mid-step and smacked his palm to his face.

.-.-.-.-.-.

"What does he look like?"

"How tall is he?"

"Has he been in circus for his whole life?"

"Is he really that hot?"

"Is he too hot, hot damn?"

"Tucker no."

"Tucker yes."

Danny put his head in his hands and looked over at his friends, sitting in the booth behind him. "Guys, _please._ Don't do this during my date."

"Hm," Tucker put on a thoughtful look, "I don't know. If he's really as hot as you say he is, I might have to steal him from you."

Sam rolled her eyes, "You're both useless homosexuals."

Tucker raised an eyebrow, "Sam, you are literally dating a girl."

"So? You guys are still useless."

"Okay," Danny said, elbowing Tucker in the face. "He's going to be here any minute. You guys need to shut up."

From the corner of his eye, he could see someone approach his booth. Danny spun around, attempting to look casual and instead looking vaguely sexual. _All that's missing is the rose in my mouth._

The performer, who was wearing an oversized black hoodie, slipped into the seat across from Danny. "Hello."

"Sup," Danny said, and immediately regretted it. "So, uh… I didn't know what to uh, get you so I got some fries. And a couple of shakes." He motioned to the food, "Uh, one's strawberry and the other's chocolate. You can pick one."

The performer blinked, "I… I can?"

"Sure. I don't really mind either," Danny smiled, "You can pick whichever. Or- or, uh, if you want a different kind, I can go buy it for you…"

"I'm allowed to pick?"

 _Well, that's probably not a good sign._ "Of course you are! Are you not allowed to do that normally?"

The performer looked away and grabbed a milkshake. Danny took the other one, staring at his date and hoping for an answer.

"Golly gee Sam!" Tucker was saying in a stage whisper, "Have you heard about the size of Danny Fenton's di-"

Danny threw his milkshake over his shoulder, successfully shutting Tucker up. His date looked up, frowned, and Danny attempted to look natural once again. "Fries?" He asked, pushing them into the center of the table.

"Fries?" His date parroted, looking at them curiously.

"Y'know, fries?" Danny's forced smile quickly fell away, "You do know what fries are, don't you?"

"Um…" The performer put his mouth around the straw of his drink and slurped noisily for what had to be close to minute.

Danny raised an eyebrow, "You don't know what fries are, do you?"

"Uh, no, I do!" The other teen said quickly, bits of milkshake dribbling out of his mouth. He pointed at the basket of fries, "Those are fries."

Danny rolled his eyes playfully, and could hear his friends laughing behind him. "Okay, wise guy." Danny ate one, well aware of the almost curious look his date was giving him. "What's it like working for the circus?"

"The Master doesn't allow us to talk about it." He whispered, grabbing a fry. "Sorry."

 _Yep, totally calling the cops on him._ "It's fine," Danny said, "So… what do you do for fun?"

"Fun?" The performer shook his head, "That's not allowed."

Behind him, Danny could hear Sam say, "Edgy, nice."

"Why would fun not be allowed?" Danny raised an eyebrow, "Does he actively try and stop you guys from being happy?"

"Um, yeah." The performer stared at the fry, narrowing his eyes. He looked ready to fight it.

"That's horrible!" Danny shook his head, "How is that guy allowed to-" His cellphone, vibrating in his pocket, cut him off. "Sorry, hold on, this is probably important."

The text had been from his sister, saying that they'd gotten a call about ghosts at a nearby bank. Groaning, Danny stood up. "I'm really sorry," He said, "I'll be back in a second."

"Oh," His date said, breaking the fry in half. "Okay."

True to his sister's word, there were ghosts at the bank. One hand on an ectoblaster, Danny moved into position and aimed. He fired a shot, hitting a dwarf ghost and sending it crashing to ground. He rolled to the side when one of the others fired a blast his way and jumped to his feet, ready to fire again and destroy the ghost.

"Danny, no!" His date's voice distracted him, and Danny looked over to see the performer rushing towards him. He skid to a stop between Danny and the ghost, one hand holding the shake close to his chest while the other was thrown out to the side. "Don't hurt him! It's not his fault!"

Danny stepped back, "What are you _doing?!"_

For a second, the performer's eyes didn't look red. "It's not his fault. Don't, please."

"What do you mean, it's not his fault?! He was going to rob a _bank!_ " Danny took several steps forward, "Move. Now."

His date's eyes were looking less red by the second. He set the shake down, steadying himself. "I don't want to hurt you."

It occurred to Danny that, aside from fear, this was the most emotion the performer had ever shown. He was even more attractive when he was passionate about something, too.

Danny shook his head in an attempt to get rid of the blush coating his face. His feeling didn't matter; he had a ghost to destroy. "I don't want to hurt you, either."

The performer nodded, licking his lips. "Well, it seems like we're at a stalemate-" His eyes went wide. The performer rushed forwards, shoving Danny out of the way. He crashed to the pavement, his head hitting the sidewalk.

The last thing he saw was his date, held in the air by a gigantic ghost, and heard him scream.

.-.-.-.-.-.

"Dude," Tucker said, reaching over and pushing his friend down. "You have a concussion. You are _not_ going ghost hunting!"

"But-"

"Do you want to die?" Tucker asked, "Your date went badly so now you're going to throw your life away. That makes sense."

"He got _kidnapped_ by a _ghost!"_ Danny snapped, and hid his face under an arm. "Badly doesn't begin to cut it."

Tucker frowned, and Danny watched him carefully. "If it helps," He said at last, "I once went out with a guy who turned out to be just using me for money."

"But you don't have any money."

"Yeah, that was the problem."

Danny rolled his eyes and lowered his arm. "I should be trying to find him."

"I know, dude," Tucker patted his shoulder, "But let your parents and the police handle it. Sam should be here soon, and she'll be able to tell us if they found anything."

As if summoned, the door was promptly kicked open and Sam rushed in. "They said he wasn't guilty!" She snapped, "There was no evidence of abuse, no evidence of being a massive piece of-" She cut off with a scream and kicked Danny's bed.

"Great," Danny groaned, shifting in his bed. "This is definitely what I wanted to hear."

"And he said we couldn't handle 'harmless fun!'" Sam continued, storming over to Danny's beanbag chair and kicking that, too. "He emotionally damaged someone- you heard him when Danny offered him a choice! And now he just gets off, scot-free, with a few fancy words!"

"Wait, what?" Danny cut in, "What do you mean fancy words?"

"He _talked_ to the police." Sam continued, "He pulled them aside and they had a nice little conversation. Jerk probably bribed them. But _noooo,_ I'm not allowed to say things like that without any proof."

Danny frowned, wondering if having a concussion would make him more likely to jump to conclusions. "Sam, were you there?"

"Not for their _chit-chat,_ no."

"And the officers who talked to him… were they acting weird?"

"Danny," Tucker said, "Fill in the gaps for the other people."

"I know the Amity Police," He said, "And they trust me. They would've at least looked around, attempted bribery or not."

Sam fixed him with a curious look. "That's true, but they didn't."

"So what kind of supernatural creature is common in this town, and can force people to do things they normally wouldn't?"

"Wait," Tucker held up his hands, "Are you saying they were overshadowed?"

"Are you saying Freakshow's a ghost?"

Danny looked between his two friends and sat up, moving out of bed. "I have to stop him! Sam, you get in contact with my parents. Tucker- I wish I didn't have to do this- but call the Guys in White. This might go badly."

"And what about you?" Sam asked, "You're not staying here, are you?"

"Even though you should," Tucker added on.

"Of course not!" Danny scoffed and grabbed a wrist ray from his nightstand. "I'm going to confront him."

Sam and Tucker exchanged a look before calmly walking over to Danny's side and forcing him back onto his bed.

"Are you _crazy?!_ " Sam nearly screamed, "You'll get yourself killed!"

"He's hurting innocent people!" Danny said, "And he's going to keep doing it just like every disgusting ghost until we stop him!"

"You're already hurt!" Tucker grabbed Danny's shoulder tighter, "And now you're going to go fight some powerful ghost all by yourself!"

"Uh," The trio turned to see Jazz standing by the door. "I'll go with him."

"How much of that did you hear?" Danny asked.

"All of it," Jazz shrugged, "So, are you going to let me help or not?"

.-.-.-.-.-.

"This is a bad idea," Jazz whispered.

"You volunteered," Danny whispered, trying to walk through the circus grounds quietly. "Where do you think he is?"

Jazz pointed to the main tent, "I'm no expert, but that might be a good place to start."

"I don't need your sass," Danny mumbled, "I have a head injury."

He led the way to the tent, standing between the stands. He could hear a voice, and recognized it as the ringmaster's.

"Slaves! Center ring!"

 _Well, that certainly sounds promising._ Danny moved closer, trying to get a better view. After a few steps he could see the man; Freakshow stood there, surrounded by four ghosts and the teenager who did the grim reaper act. Danny's heart soared as he realized that, aside from the ectoplasm smearing his face, his crush wasn't badly injured.

"As you all know," Freakshow said, red staff in hand, "We've been making a fantastic impression on the population. We've been doing so well, in fact, that we've been the subject of a recent investigation." He looked over the ghosts, stopping once he reached the one who was obviously a human and under no circumstances dead. "Now who could be to blame for that?"

Danny's crush moved his lips, and the ringmaster took a step towards him.

"What was that? Did I give you permission to speak?" He raised the staff and Danny watched as his crush fell to the ground, screaming and gripping his chest. "You _exist_ to obey me! Stop resisting!"

With a furious battle cry and protective surge, Danny rushed forwards and tackled Freakshow to the ground. The man let out a surprised shout as the staff fell from his hand, skidding across the floor.

Danny dug the barrel of his wrist ray into the man's back, trying to fight the dizziness threatening to drag him down. "I wouldn't move if I were you."

Freakshow simply smiled, "Lydia, could you come here?"

One of the ghosts lifted Danny off the ground by his wrist. Danny kicked and screamed as he watched the ringmaster retrieve his staff. "What do we have here?"

Danny took a deep breath and spat in his face.

Freakshow wiped it away, "Disgusting," He said, and lowered his staff so that it was in front of Danny's crush. "Get up, come on now. Surely you can do _that_ right."

Danny's arm was starting to hurt as he watched the performer stand, no emotion on his face. He looked empty.

"Kill him," Freakshow said, and Danny's crush took a step forwards.

 _"FENTON FAMILY BRAND SNEAK ATTACK!"_ Jazz screamed, and much like Danny had, threw herself at the ringmaster. This time the staff went flying through the air, spinning away before it shattered on the ground.

Danny was roughly dropped to the ground, and could plainly see Jazz lean in close to Freakshow's ear.

"If you even so much as _look_ at my brother again," She whispered, "I will destroy you."

Danny activated his wrist ray and aimed it up at the ghost who had grabbed him. But before he could fire a hand coated in a white glove carefully nudged him out of the way. Danny glared over at his crush, and quickly became aware of two things.

The first was that his face was covered by a cocky grin, and that the robe he'd been wearing previously was gone. Apparently his clothes had been part of a jumpsuit with a stylized DP emblem on the front.

The second was that his eyes were no longer red but a bright, vibrant green.

"Hiya," He said, his voice clearly carrying the otherworldly tone of a ghost. "Don't shoot innocent people. It's not nice." He clapped a hand on Danny's shoulder before standing up and turning around coating a hand with green ectoplasm.

It also occurred to Danny that he really had no proof that his crush was a human.

The energy coated Jazz and set her gently beside Danny before going to Freakshow. It lifted him up, and Danny numbly watched the ghost float over to him.

"Sucks, doesn't it?" The energy kept Freakshow's jaw clamped closed, "Not being able to talk to anyone, or do anything without permission…" He flicked his wrist and smashed the ringmaster to the ground. "I'm the one in control now, and the next time you touch a ghost-" He levitated the man into the air, "Well, let's just say it won't be pretty." Once again, he smashed the man into the ground. The energy dissipated, but Freakshow didn't get up.

Danny raised his weapon, ready to fire as the ghost turned towards him and Jazz. But Danny's ex-crush didn't pay him any attention and instead rushed forward, towards Danny's sister.

"Jazz!" Danny shouted and took a few rushed steps towards his sister. He froze mid-step as he realized that the ghost was hurting his sister, just… hugging her. Tightly.

"Thank you!" He pulled back, floating in the air. His white hair seemed to fluff up as he smiled, making wild motions with his hands. "He was hurting my core and then you just come in all like _pachoo!_ down he goes! You're an absolutely amazing human and I will totally befriend you once I figure out where I am because I really don't-" He stopped, seeming to notice Danny. A bright green colour seems to spread across his skin. "Oh, uh… um, hello. You're… I like your eyes." He aimed finger guns at Danny, "Sup?"

"You've got to be kidding me," Danny muttered, stepping back.

"Uh, no?" The ghost frowned, "My name's Phantom. Danny Phantom, actually, but nobody calls me that." He landed, "Can I just say that you're super, super cute? That bandage is a nice touch."

"Thanks," Danny said, ready to fire, "I have a concussion."

"…I don't know what that is." He turned back to the other ghosts, "I can handle this, guys. You should head home."

"Are you certain?" A female ghost asked.

"No, I'm Phantom." Groans met his joke, one of which came from Danny. "Aw, you all love me. Seriously, I've got this."

The moment Phantom finished speaking, Danny could hear sirens ringing through the air. The ghosts all looked tense for a second before shooting through the roof. Phantom seemed like he was about to go after him but instead crashed to the ground, clutching the center of his chest. "He didn't," The ghost whispered, looking back at Freakshow. "…He did. Oh no, no no no-"

Jazz rushed to the ghost's side before Danny could tell her not to and helped Phantom to his feet. "What's wrong?"

"I have powers," Phantom wheezed, "I have powers but they're not- working- they were working before what is this-"

Danny pushed away the feeling creeping over him. He did not, and would not, have a crush on a ghost. Even a hot one. The very idea of it was ridiculous, because it's not like ghosts actually had the emotional capacity to form a relationship-

"Danny," Jazz said, "Go distract them. I'm going to get Phantom to safety, okay?"

"He's a ghost," Danny said, "He'll hurt you."

"Three days ago you wanted to have a hot makeout session with him," Jazz said, "So don't you start judging him now."

Danny felt his face burn, "Jazz, no, please- I'll go, I'll do it, just never mention that again."

Phantom gave him a glance-over. As Danny was leaving the tent, he heard the ghost say "I'd be up to it."

* * *

I'm very tired and unable to take anything seriously. Is it obvious?

So, thoughts?


End file.
